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My sacred task as rabbi is to ignite the God-given hidden spark within each person, and connect this light to others through building spiritual community. The tool of ignition, inspiration, and agitation is our Torah, 70 Faces and all, and my task is make Torah come alive (through diverse venues) in the present so it will live in the future. I seek to be a madrich/guide and leader who can help others traverse through the windy pathways of life.

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Shabbat Message - Behukotai - Camp Send Off Shabbat 5776/2016

In this week's parashah, Behukotai, Bnai Israel make their final preparations before leaving Sinai for the promised land, they light the menorah, the seven branched candelabra that they placed in the mishkan/Tabernacle, and later, in the holy Temple in Jerusalem. In Judaism, we are always looking forward to the bright lights of the future. As we light our own candles, we wonder - who will kindle the lights after us? This Shabbat will be a truly special weekend at Shaarei Kodesh. On Friday evening, we will honor our congregants who are participants in our Create a Jewish Legacy program at Shaarei Kodesh. This first cohort of congregants, who we are calling, our "Gate Keepers" have pledged to make an after-lifetime gift to benefit Shaarei Kodesh and other Jewish organizations in South Palm Beach County. These gifts will help preserve and perpetuate Judaism in our area for years to come. On Shabbat morning, we will honor the Gate Keepers as well as our children will be attending overnight sleep away camp and/or programs. Honoring and blessing our children is another way that we look toward the future.

I am a strong believer in Jewish overnight summer camps because I believe that they are one of the most effective ways to build our Jewish future. Children who went to Jewish overnight camp are more likely to feel emotionally attached to Israel, attend synagogue services monthly, and donate to Jewish causes. There was actually a study done to prove the effectiveness of Jewish overnight camp that I hope you take a look at: CLICK HERE FOR THE STUDY. I spent nine blessed summers at Camp Ramah Darom in North Georgia, and I'll be teaching at Darom during the first two weeks of second session in mid-July. The Ramah camping movement is the camping arm of the Conservative movement and is one of our most effective programs that have shaped Judaism in America. My summers at Ramah inspired me to become the Jew I am today and I even credit Ramah with my marriage to Alissa! I was interviewed about my experience in the book titled, Ramah at 60: Reflections. As you can see, there is an illustrious list of alumni and I was honored to be part of that list: click here for Rabbi Baum's story.

But there is more than just the Ramah camping system that we will celebrate this weekend. Last week, we heard about how Camp Judaea has touched the lives of Emmett Lessne and Liora Tuchman. As part of their Mitzvah Journey, they raised money for camp scholarships and they spoke about their love of camp in their dvar torah. We also bless our children going Jewish summer programs like USY Pilgrimage, USY On Wheels, Ramah Israel Seminary and those who are attending secular overnight camps.

Please join us for this wonderful weekend of celebrating our collective future!

By now, you probably know it's not ok to stare directly into the sun. Although it feels less intuitive, the same rule applies during an eclipse. By looking directly at the sun, you are essentially cooking your eyes but because your retina doesn’t have pain sensors therefore you won’t feel your eyes being irreparably damaged. I thought I could just pick the exclusive glasses up at the library, but they’ve been gone for months!I didn’t have any luck in any stores either – in fact, one store began by saying we don’t have eclipse glasses before I even said one word! I finally got my pair – in fact, I had to buy 25 just to get 4, and if you’re wondering, I sold the rest of t…

Rabbi David Baum A new flood is foretold by the world's weather specialists and they say that nothing can be done about it. In three days, the waters will wipe out the world. The Dalai Lama appears on television and pleads with everybody to turn to Buddhism. That way, they will at least reach enlightenment. The Pope goes on television and says that the world must accept Christianity in order to attain salvation. The Chief Rabbi of Israel takes a slightly different approach: "We all have three days to learn how to live underwater."

There is a bit of a misconception when it came to how the world flooded in the Noah story. The flood did not start with rain, rather, it started with the fountains of the great deep bursting apart, and the floodgates of the sky broke open (Genesis 7:11). It was a reversing of the process of creation. God removed the barriers and started over with chaos. I bring this up because it does seem like w…